Memory Lane
by Carly86
Summary: Post-JE. Donna couldn't help but notice how much had changed and tries to remember...
1. Chapter 1

Donna lay on her bed, staring at the evening sky through her window. To say she was confused would be an understatement. A big part of her clothes vanished, she missed an alien invasion with neither being drunk nor on holiday and people behaved _weird_ around her.

She often caught her mother and Granddad whispering behind her back and falling silent whenever Donna entered the room. Her mother had also been unusually... mother-ly these days. She often asked if Donna wanted a cup of tea or something to eat and didn't even tell her once to get her lazy butt out of the house to search for a new job.

Her job... What happened to her old job? After that strange day, when she awoke fully clothed on her bed and that strange man sat in their living room, she wanted to go to work at H.C. Clemens, like she always did, but something was wrong. Her co-workers stared at Donna and asked her what she was doing there. Then she went to her boss to tell him about the confusing behaviour of everyone else only to be told that she had resigned ages ago... right after her break-up with Lance.

Lance... why didn't she marry him? That thought caused a sudden urge to punch something... or someone. That wish must have been visible on her face because her former boss called the security guards while she yelled at him. She and resigning? A posh job like this? No chance.

Donna continued to think about this while two big guys carried her out of the building.

She first knew, something was wrong with her memory, when she tried to think about the week before. She couldn't remember... Donna _knew_ she went to work but she couldn't _remember_. No details. None at all. Then she did remember her resigning. Sort of. It was somehow... blurred. Especially because there was no apparent reason. None.

It wasn't like she wanted to run off with a man to have a more interesting lifestyle or something. Really, that would be ridiculous... wouldn't it? Her head began to hurt.

Another thing entirely was her own strange behaviour. She often caught herself staring at the typical red telephone boxes in London and felt an impossible longing passing through her... not to mention the strange wish for them to be blue.

She got the same feeling when she watched the stars with her Granddad. He talked less about aliens these days, but his gaze at the sky was more intense than ever. Sometimes, he looked at her with tears in his eyes, hugged her for no apparent reason and told her what an amazing woman she was... and she cried, too. But why? She didn't know...

Then Donna went to Cardiff to visit an old friend and clear her head a little... but that trip only caused more questions to surface. She spotted an attractive man in a long old-fashioned coat on Roald Dahl Plass, looking at her. Naturally, she wanted to talk to him... An opportunity like that, after all... But before she could even take one step forward, he looked alarmed and ran away.

_That_ was strange... She did have a talent to chase men away but that usually happened _after_ she talked to them. Her friend laughed her head off and asked what she did to the poor guy, but Donna didn't know. She didn't know _anything..._ and her head hurt again.

When she went back to Chiswick, Donna told her Granddad everything. She expected him to talk about aliens messing with her memory or something but he just looked shocked for a moment, told her not to be worried and then began to talk about the weather. Later he was whispering with her mother again and they both jumped when Donna entered the room. What was going on? When her head throbbed, she suddenly got the feeling that the alien theory didn't sound so bad...

So many things changed for her from one day to the other... the holes in her memory, where she knew she _did_ something but didn't _remember,_ people she never met before running away from her, the telephone boxes, her being mesmerized by church choirs, the unexplainable pain and guild that filled her when someone mentioned Pompeii, her being suddenly terrified of spiders and beetles,... the list went on and on. And the more she thought about it, the more she was confused.

Donna sighed and pressed her head into the cushions. She knew there had to be something out there that explained every little thing and longed for an explanation. Everything felt so strange and unreal. The people, the streets, the normal simple life she lived on Earth. Why didn't it feel real? Why did she feel so imprisoned by her own world? What was it she really wanted? What did she miss? Who or what kept her from finding the truth?

Donna suddenly imagined a man. The most amazing man. Someone who had an answer to every single mystery in the whole universe and helped her to remember... really remember.

An enormous pain exploded in her head and visions entered her mind.

A blue box, fire, a poisonous sky, the words bad wolf scattered everywhere, a cold planet, a giant bee, a blond girl, an empty library, a terrible world, a severed hand, planets in the sky, space ships, a blue light, a whirring sound and-

Donna screamed and hold her head. The man! The man in pinstripes! He was-

Everything went black.


	2. Epilogue

Turns out I'm not mean enough to let you hang like this :P  
I know, I'm better at writing humor, but well... something like this is also fun once in a while ;)

~*~

Fire pulsed through her veins and she writhed in pain. All the memories, all the pain... It drove her mad!

She screamed in terror and heard distant voices shouting her name. Her head throbbed violently with every new memory... every new information. The secrets of the universe returned to her brain and Donna felt like her head would burst into two! New Earth, Woman Wept, Jabe, the Face of Boe, Satellite 5, the Master, Gallifrey, RoseLeelaSarahJaneMarthaJackTurloughRomanaAdric- the Doctor's memories exploded inside her brain. All he had found and lost... all he had done. She could see it all. Death and destruction among happiness and love. All the planets in the sky... all the stars! She knew what was going to happen, she knew what her body was going through. Donna felt fire engulfing her form and wished to see the Doctor again... Just once... just once before she was going to die... and not only to punch him in the face for wiping her mind.

Screams from memory mixed with those from reality. Donna heard herself scream along and began to feel the change... the unbelievable pain, the Doctor felt for so very long. It hurt so much and yet... it was an experience so much different from what she believed. Was this dying?

If it was, why did she feel so very, very much? Why doesn't her mind cease to exist? Why did her skin feel suddenly so cold?

Donna opened her eyes. Her vision blurry at first, but slowly... so very, very slowly, the forms in front of her eyes began to gain shape. Ever so slowly, she hold one of her hands in front of her face, amazed at its existence and the very faint glow emitting from her skin. She sat up and let her gaze wander over the room. Her mum and granddad were pressed inside a corner, holding each other for support with wonder, fear and tears inside their eyes. Her gaze continued to wander and stopped short when it reached the doorway.

There he stood, all smug grin and pinstripe suit, looking at her in wonder and amazement.

"Humans... you never cease to amaze me! Say something is impossible and what do they do? Prove you wrong, spot on! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! And a little terrifying, yes. But mostly, brilliant!"

Donna's hearts beat rapidly in her chest, when she stood up to go to him. Every little memory returned to its rightful place along with those that weren't her own. Her tongue moved over her teeth. Same teeth, same body. And yet another heart and Time Lord brain. It was impossible and still she lived. Unreal and still real. Slowly, she went over to the Doctor, a man so terrifying and wonderful, vulnerable and strong.

The big grin on his face vanished quickly when her hand connected with his cheek.

They had decades, even centuries for hugs.

They had forever.

~*~

I hate to beg for reviews, but I really need opinions on this one... So, _please_ review! ;)


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